grab and go
Day twenty-six of the courthouse standoff, and Sergeant Nelson was dreaming of retirement. His usually shined Bate’s were scuffed at the toe as he looked on with stoic empathy, as men with beer guts and rifles traded insults with a group of masked skateboarders. At 53, Sergeant Nelson could smell the sawdust as he saw... Continue Reading →
Nita studied the plaque on the eighteenth step of the Lincoln Memorial, honoring the very spot where Dr. King gave his famous speech. The eighteenth step, as all the steps, were crowded with protestors. At least five people had megaphones. At least five different chants were fighting to be heard at that very minute. Despite... Continue Reading →
Max looked me over, his wide, five year-old eyes trying to take it all in. “Did it hurt?” he asked. “Not too bad,” I told him. It sure hurt now, though, having to face my son and daughter at the rails of my hospital bed. Jen stood in the corner seething, arms crossed, her face... Continue Reading →
Chapter One Only two weeks of summer vacation sat between me and middle school when I leaped from my bike, set it against the post, and breezed through the doors of Autumn Springs Assisted Care Center. I found Miss Cheryl at the front desk, lovely as ever in pink, her sandy blonde hair wrapped... Continue Reading →
Doug and Marcy waited in the car, behind five other vehicles waiting in the drive-thru testing line. They clutched their respective phones, the rush and rattle of the vents the only sound between them as the air conditioning struggled against the record day temperatures. Doug looked up occasionally, to the protests across the street. He’d... Continue Reading →
Montreal Dorb was the brainchild of Dorb Enterprises. Programmed to generate text in fiction form, the machine’s initial works were clunky, incoherent, mere lines of code submitted in bulk to online contests. With each rejection, the algorithm shifted. Datasets and patterns tweaked. The machine plugged away, its vocabulary expanded, and the scientists noted the machine’s... Continue Reading →
I could leave him now, could’ve yesterday, or tomorrow if I want to plan things through, only, whenever I think of leaving Jake, I hear this voice in the back of my mind—not my mother’s but maybe someone trying to imitate her—a blue cloud wheeze of spent Merit 100’s, “Now Darla, I knew it wouldn’t... Continue Reading →
I stumble into a ballroom. The place is draped in bronze, with parquet floors and chandeliers the size of Volkswagen's. Every head turns to look at me. Attractive woman with blue eyes, green eyes, hazel, brown, all wearing evening gowns. All stunning, or, well, stunned to see me, at least. There’s a rip in my... Continue Reading →
Lori and I had never been known as tech savvy. Our children always managed the downloads and all the constant updates and gadgets. So I was surprised by how she’d started using her new phone. She’d been on it more, recently, curled up in the corner of the couch as we watched House Hagglers, the... Continue Reading →
The grass is dewy on my bare feet as I stop outside. I haven’t had my coffee yet but there’s pressing business that needs doing before anything else. All night that bird, chirping at the window, summoning me like a patron to a waiter, right at the sill. Greta never stirred. Maybe if the fat... Continue Reading →
Lunch Break Fiction 